A federal judge ruled that Meta Platforms must face a lawsuit accusing the company of favoring foreign workers over U.S. citizens due to lower labor costs.
On Tuesday, U.S. Magistrate Judge Laurel Beeler said three U.S. citizens who claim Meta refused to hire them despite their qualifications can proceed with their proposed class action.
The plaintiffs—information technology worker Purushothaman Rajaram, software engineer Ekta Bhatia, and data scientist Qun Wang—allege that between 2020 and 2024, they were rejected for Meta jobs due to the company’s “systematic preference” for visa holders. In response, Meta dismissed the claims as baseless and vowed to “vigorously defend” itself.
Meta argued in its bid to dismiss the case that there was no evidence of intentional discrimination or proof that the plaintiffs would have been hired if they were not U.S. citizens.
However, Judge Beeler cited statistics showing that 15% of Meta’s U.S. workforce holds H-1B visas, compared to just 0.5% of the overall U.S. workforce. She also referenced Meta’s 2021 agreement to pay up to $14.25 million to settle federal claims that it routinely refused to consider American workers for positions set aside for visa holders.
“These allegations support the plaintiffs’ overall complaint that they were not hired because Meta favors H-1B visa holders,” Beeler wrote.
The U.S. government originally sued Meta in December 2020, shortly before former President Donald Trump’s first term ended.
Daniel Low, a lawyer representing the plaintiffs, said in an email, “We are hopeful that the lawsuit will help remedy the favoritism towards visa workers that is common in the tech industry. Fully addressing the issue will require additional enforcement or legislative reform.”
The lawsuit was initially dismissed in November 2022 when only Rajaram was named as a plaintiff. A divided federal appeals court revived it last June, citing a Civil War-era law that protects U.S. citizens from discrimination in contracts based on “alienage.”
The same law, Section 1981 of the Civil Rights Act of 1866, has been used by conservative groups to challenge diversity initiatives in workplaces—an effort Trump also supports.
